I earned my MA from University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee and there are a couple of people here that might interest you. First, Jennifer Jordan does a ton of work in both sociology of food and cultural sociology, and she also has interest in European food movements. Second, Kent Redding studies social movements and does historical/comparative research. Their PhD program is relatively new, and it's not as competitive as many other programs. Although there's not an emphasis on gender studies (there are only a couple of faculty who study gender), it's something to consider. Good luck!
http://uwm.edu/sociology/graduate-program/
http://uwm.edu/sociology/people/jordan-jennifer/
http://uwm.edu/sociology/people/redding-kent/
